Intrusion Countermeasures
White IC White IC affects only the decker’s online icon. It attacks the icon’s ratings but does not affect the cyberdeck’s permanent ratings or utilities. The worst that white IC can do is dump a decker or scramble data she is trying to read or write. Cripplers Cripplers are proactive white IC programs that each attack one of the decker’s icon’s Attributes. Cripplers come in four types: acid, binder, jammer, or marker programs. Acid cripplers attack an icon’s Bod Rating. Binder cripplers attack an icon’s Evasion Rating. Jammer cripplers attack the Sensor Rating, and marker cripplers attack the Masking Rating. Killer Killer IC is proactive IC that causes damage to icons in cybercombat. All killer IC has a Damage Probe Probe IC is reactive IC that conducts additional interrogations of data packets and program requests for computer resources. Probe IC helps detect any operations performed by unauthorized programs. Scramble Scramble IC is reactive IC used to protect elements of a host’s Access, Files, or Slave subsystems. Scramble IC can be programmed to protect a specific component of a subsystem or the entire subsystem. For example, scramble IC can protect an individual data file, a datastore, or all the Files functions on a host—including faxprinter output and dedicated terminals. Similarly, scramble IC on an Access subsystem can oppose logons from specific entry points, such as public grids and dedicated workstations, or all logons. On a Slave subsystem, scramble IC can defend specific remote devices or all devices connected to the subsystem. Scramble IC programs are designed to make it impossible to Access any host or slave devices they protect, unless it is decrypted. Additionally, scramble IC will destroy the data under its care rather than letting it fall into unauthorized hands. If the test fails, the decker has managed to suppress the scramble IC’s destruct code. If the test succeeds, the data is destroyed. Deckers may use specific system operations to defeat scramble IC, all of which can be augmented by the decryption utility. Deckers can use attack programs to crash scramble IC, but doing so will increase the decker’s security tally unless he suppresses the scramble IC. Tar Baby Tar baby is reactive IC that attempts to crash deckers’ utility programs. Each tar baby is pre-programmed to target a specific type of utility (operational, offensive, defensive, special.) Gray IC Gray IC programs attack a decker’s cyberdeck and utilities directly. Any damage caused by a gray IC attack permanently affects the deck’s ratings. Damaged chips and other components must be replaced to restore the deck’s original ratings. Blaster Blaster IC is proactive IC that attacks in cybercombat in the same manner as killer IC (see Killer IC, above). Armor reduces damage from blaster attacks. Additionally, blaster IC may permanently damage a decker’s MPCP if it crashes his icon. Rippers Ripper IC is a gray version of crippler IC. This proactive IC attacks in the same manner. Replacing the MPCP is the only way to restore this damage Four different types of ripper IC exist: acid-rip, bindrip, jam-rip, and mark-rip. Acid rip, also known as “bodstripper,” “sizzler,” or “peeler,” attacks the deck’s Bod Rating. Bind-rip, also known as “gluefoot,” “mummy,” or “flypaper,” attacks the Evasion Rating. Jam-rip, also known as “blinder,” “gouger,” or “stick,” attacks the Sensor Rating. Mark-rip, also called “screamer,” “paint,” or “tag,” attacks the Masking Rating. Sparky The proactive IC called sparky IC attacks in the same manner as Killer. However, if sparky IC crashes the persona, it causes an overload in the deck’s power supply that feeds random jolts of electricity to the MPCP and the decker’s brain. Results can range from a little impromptu electroshock therapy to a killing jolt. This is dark gray IC indeed—bordering on black—but because it is not designed to deliberately cause physical trauma, it is technically considered non-lethal. Tar Pit The reactive IC known as tar pit IC operates and attacks inthe same manner as tar baby IC. However, if tar pit IC trashes a utility on-line, it also injects the deck with viral code that corrupts all copies of the program in the deck’s active and storage memories. Unless the decker has a backup copy of the utility stashed in off-line memory, he’s lost it for good. And even if he has a backup, he can’t get at it for the rest of the run. When tar pit IC trashes a program, it tests the deck's MPCP rating. If the test produces no successes, the viral code is defeated and the tar pit IC has the same effect as the tar baby program, so the decker can reload his utility with a Swap Memory operation. If the Tar Pit Test produces any successes, however, the IC corrupts all copies of the program stored on the deck. The decker cannot get the utility back until he jacks out and reloads the utility from a source outside his deck (from a storage chip, most likely). Black IC Black IC is a form of proactive IC that samples the command transactions between the decker and his deck and then injects dangerous biofeedback responses into the deck’s ASIST interface. These feedback responses raise the deck’s simsense signal to the same levels as a BTL chip on overdose intensity. As a result, the signal may overload the decker’s neural connections and in turn render him unconscious, trigger psychological disorders, brainwash him, or cause death from stroke, heart failure, respiratory paralysis, aneurysm, or neurotransmitter autotoxicity. And those are just a few of the possible effects. Black IC in Combat Black IC begins to subvert the ASIST interface in a decker’s cyberdeck as soon as it scores a successful attack on the decker, even if the hit does no damage. After a black IC hit, the decker must make a successful Willpower Test to jack out. If the test succeeds, the decker may jack out, but the black IC makes one more cybercombat attack against himbefore the connection goes down. Black IC also makes an automatic attack if a companion at the jackpoint pulls the plug when the deck indicates black IC activity. Lethal Black IC Lethal black IC fights like killer IC in cybercombat. However, successful lethal black IC attacks cause damage to a decker and his icon. Every time black IC hits a decker, the decker rolls two Resistance Tests. Hardening reduces the Power of the damage for these Resistance Tests. A Body Resistance Test, using his Body Attribute, enables the decker to resist damage to his person. The decker also makes a Resistance Test using his icon’s Bod Rating to resist damage to the icon. The icon resists damage as it resists damage from killer IC and armor protects the icon normally. The decker’s Matrix connection remains intact if the icon is killed before the decker dies or manages to jack out. In such cases, the IC completely dominates the decker’s icon bandwidth. The decker cannot fight back at all with his icon down. All he can do is try to jack out before the IC kills him. The Matrix connection automatically goes down if black IC kills the decker. But before it turns the deck loose, the black IC gets a shot at the MPCP, making the attack as if it were blaster IC, with double its rating. If the black IC completely destroys the MPCP, the IC deletes all data downloaded by the decker during the run. It deletes any such data stored in any connected storage memory as well, and reduces the MPCP’s Rating to 0. Lethal black IC damage overflows in the same manner as Physical damage to a Shadowrun character. These aftereffects may include neurological damage that produces memory lapses, hallucinations, tremors, phantom pain, migraines, or neurological damage. Non-Lethal Black IC Non-lethal black IC functions in the same manner as lethal black IC, with the following exceptions. First, non-lethal blackIC causes Mental, not Physical damage. Deckers resist such damage with Willpower Tests. If damage from non-lethal black IC renders a decker unconscious, the decker’s Matrix connection is automatically broken. However, the non-lethal black IC still gets a final shot at the cyberdeck’s MPCP and the data downloaded during the run. Mental damage done by non-lethal black IC can overflow into the Physical Condition Monitor.